Punch Line

Episode 8

Possibly the most important aspect of episode 8 for some is the fact that Crunchyroll has fixed one long-standing subtitling error. The “Yubafication” that certain characters undergo is now being referred to as “Uberfication,” which (supposedly according to Twitter posts by the creator) is what it was always intended to be. In fairness, “uber” does sound an awful lot like “yuba” in the original Japanese, and it being a made-up word only complicates matters further. Still, a spot check shows that Crunchyroll is going back and updating subtitles from previous episodes accordingly.

As for the actual story content, episode 8 continues Yuta's trek back through Events That Have Happened Previously, albeit with a new perspective and new details filled in. We get to see how “Kenji” triggered his power-up during the 20 seconds he was gone during his first fight with “Turtle Man” (apparently my theory that the panties were only affecting him because he was in spirit form was wrong), and more importantly, the conversation he had with the spirit of Tsubouchi Qmay when he chased him down after that. That conversation, which we never saw the first time around, fills in some important details, such as how the facility which birthed the Uberfication abilities of Pine, Guriko, and Chiyoko is the same facility which produced the bear cub Muhi and was Qmay-affiliated all along. It still leaves a mystery what, exactly, W is, though, or what that has to do with bringing the asteroid down or needing Muhi's regenerative ability to complete it. How Meika's grandfather knew about the future is partly addressed, though, and the suggestion is made that it is connected to the previously-revealed incident from Rabura's childhood where she wrote down many things that she couldn't have possibly known about. We also get to finally meet Rabura's brother (who provided Ito with Muhi) and find out what happened during the originally-missing Christmas day. Five words: bad karaoke to dumb songs.

Seeing a series that originally seemed so scatterbrained come together and fill itself out like this is proving to be a very satisfying experience. In that regard the series that Punch Line most resembles is Boogiepop Phantom, though Baccano! might also be a fair choice for newer viewers. The writing is now more clearly being carefully-measured and meticulously-planned in what it does, and actually has been all along; this is not, by any means or reasonable argument, a production that is flying by the seat of its pants on storytelling. It has now told us a lot but still leaves plenty to be discovered in the remaining 3(?) episodes. It also tosses out some tantalizing suggestions for the future: are Rabura and Ito actually going to be the other two of the five destined members of Justice Punch (besides Mikatan, Yuta and Meika), for instance? And given that Yuta has crippled Tomoda (and thus both forced Tsubouchi's spirit to relocate and presumably prevented Ito's classmates from being killed), how much of a wrench does that throw in the future progression of events? How much differently will the future play out because of that?

But stuff like that is what will keep series viewers coming back at this point.

Rating: B+

Punch Line is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.